Syracuse Football Signee Russell Thompson-Bishop adds Speed, Size

We continue to take an in-depth look at the Syracuse football 2017 recruiting class. Here’s a look at a speedy receiver who may add some big play ability.

The Syracuse football squad added another playmaker to the class of 2017 with Russell Thompson-Bishop. Thompson-Bishop is a 3-star wide receiver from Bloomfield, Connecticut.

Syracuse fans may recall another former player from Bloomfield, in Dwight Freeney. Thompson-Bishop also drew offers from Temple, UConn, Boston College, among others. He has a nice frame at 6-foot 2 weighing 200-pounds and also runs track for the Bloomfield track and field team.

Thompson-Bishop caught 46 passes for 1,025 yards and 14 TD’s. He electrified Bloomfield all season with big plays. Hudl lists Thompson-Bishop’s 40-yard dash time at 4.38. Like I mentioned he is a speedy track star for Bloomfield who won the state championship last year. Let’s take a look at his highlights:

Early on in the highlights you can see why Dino Babers and the staff brought him on.

At the :25 second mark he uses his 6-foot 2 frame to go up and high point a pass for a touchdown. You also see this at the 3:36 mark. Thompson-Bishop figures to be an outside receiver for Syracuse and as we saw last year, you must be able to go up and catch balls in one-on-one coverage.

In one of the most impressive plays at the 1:07 mark on his highlight tape, RTB gets a quick release off of the line. He fakes like he is catching a screen pass, then runs a “go” route showing off his 4.3 40-yard dash speed. Thompson-Bishop absolutely leaves his defender in the dust for another TD. Thompson-Bishop has mastered adjusting his body according to the throw from his quarterback.

In the highlights, sometimes his quarterback under throws Thompson-Bishop. At the 3:17 mark,

More from Inside the Loud House

you see a great adjustment from the young receiver locates the ball in the air and stops his route short to make the play.

This will prove to be very valuable at Syracuse, as Babers and offensive coordinator Sean Lewis like to throw the ball up to on the outside. The last major thing that stands out to me about RTB is his break away speed.

In the highlights he runs multiple crossing routes over the middle and takes them for a big gain to the end zone. Thompson-Bishop does this perfectly at the :38 mark. He just runs a simple crossing route, catches the ball over the middle and then uses his great speed to break away for the TD.

We already previewed Nykeim Johnson stay tuned for more signing day gems and player previews.

Home/football recruiting